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In
a blog post, the social media service announced a slew of
changes for teen users. Instagram head Adam Mosseri is due to
testify in a Congressional hearing on Wednesday about protecting
kids online.
Instagram and its parent company Meta Platforms Inc, formerly
Facebook, have been under scrutiny over ways their services
could cause issues around the mental health, body image and
online safety of younger users.
In the post, Mosseri also said Instagram was switching off the
ability for people to tag or mention teens who do not follow
them on the app. He said that starting January, teen Instagram
users would be able to bulk delete their content and previous
likes and comments.
He said Instagram was exploring controls to limit potentially
harmful or sensitive material suggested to teens through its
search function, hashtags, short-form video Reels and its
'Suggested Accounts' feature, as well as on its curated
'Explore' page.
The blog also said that on Tuesday, Instagram was launching its
'Take a Break' feature in the United States, United Kingdom,
Canada and Australia, which reminds people to take a brief pause
from the app after using it for a certain amount of time.
It said in March next year Instagram would launch its first
tools for parents and guardians to see how much time their teens
spend on the app and set time limits.
An Instagram spokeswoman said it would continue its pause on
plans for a version of Instagram for kids. Instagram suspended
plans for the project in September, amid growing opposition to
the project.
The move followed a Wall Street Journal report that said
internal documents, leaked by former Facebook employee Frances
Haugen, showed the company knew Instagram could have harmful
mental health effects on teenage girls, for example on their
views of body image. Facebook has said the leaked documents have
been used to paint a false picture of the company's work.
State attorneys general and lawmakers had also raised concerns
about the kids-focused app.
Last month, a bipartisan coalition of U.S. state attorneys
general said it had opened a probe into Facebook for promoting
Instagram to children despite potential harms.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Culliford in New York; Editing by David
Gregorio)
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